Friday Wrap-up: one Azerbaijani journalist threaten, another one wanted by Russia and a supermarket chain fined
Published: 13 May 2022 16:28
The week of May 9-13 saw journalist Ayten Mammadova threatened by a man with a knife, journalist Rovshan Asgarov now being searched by Russia and Araz Supermarket has been fined more than one-million USD.
Azerbaijani journalist threatened at knifepoint
In the evening of May 8, journalist Ayten Mammadova was threatened with a knife by an unknown person in her apartment building while returning home with her daughter.
Recently, she has been working in the case of the abduction of 10-year-old Narmin Guliyeva. The neighbor of Narmin, Ilkin Suleymanov, is being tried for her murder, but the journalist believes he is being used as a scapegoat to cover up the actual perpetrator or perpetrators.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) issued a statement condemning the attack, expressing that “the latest attacks and threats against Ayten Mammadova are an attack not only on her, but on all journalists in Azerbaijan”.
Russia searches for Azerbaijani journalist
Azerbaijani journalist Rovshan Asgarov has been declared wanted by the Russian government. A criminal case against him was open Russia, accusing the journalist of “rehabilitation of Nazism”.
The reason behind it is a Facebook post. Allegedely, Asgarov wrote on his Facebook page insulting the memory of Soviet Marshal Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov.
Rovshan Asgarov is a citizen of Azerbaijan and Russia. He lives mainly in Moscow. Since 2009, he has been the director of the Baku Magazine. The editor-in-chief of the magazine is Leyla Aliyeva, daughter of the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev.
Araz supermarket chain fined on more than one-million USD
Azerbaijani supermarket chain Araz was fined around 2.5 million AZR (around 1.4 million USD) for unfair competition, as well as for the use of inaccurate advertising methods in its activities.
The fine was the result of a investigation conducted by the State Service for Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control under the Ministry of Economy, which found out that the announcement titled “Araz supermarket chain has been selected as the cheapest chain of stores on the eve of the New Year” not only contained inaccurate information on the prices of goods, terms of purchase and payment, but also false and distorted information about the business reputation and financial condition of other market participants.
The company has about 300 markets, logistics centers and more than 6,000 employees across the country.